I fell into writing about health shortly after grad school, where I realized I didn't want to work in a lab for the rest of my life! My areas of interest are the brain and behavior, as well as what influences the decisions we make about our health, and how the media helps and hinders people's understanding of health issues. As an undergraduate, I studied English Literature and Biopsychology at Vassar College, and got my PhD in Biopsychology and Behavioral Neuroscience at CUNY's Graduate Center in New York City, where I grew up and live now. My day job is as Associate Editor with the health website, TheDoctorWillSeeYouNow.com. My work has appeared in several other publications, including TheAtlantic.com and YogaGlo.com, and I'm particularly excited to join the Forbes health team. Email me at alicegwalton [at] gmail [dot] com .

The concern over synthetic drugs has come to a head in recent months, according to experts, and evidenced by events in Miami last weekend. On Saturday, Rudy Eugene was fatally shot by police for gruesomely and repeatedly biting into another man’s face. President of the Miami Fraternal Order of Police Armando Aguilar believes that bath salts, a synthetic drug, is an underlying culprit in Eugene’s disturbing attack.

Bath salts are highly addictive and apparently elicit intense cravings similar to methamphetamines. They act on the brain like other stimulants, and are sometimes referred to as a “cocaine substitutes.” Also known as “White Rush, Cloud Nine, Ivory Wave, Ocean Snow, Charge Plus, White Lightning, Scarface, Hurricane Charlie, Red Dove, White Dove, and Sextasy,” their most common side effects are agitation, fast heart rate, and hallucinations and delusions, seizures, high blood pressure, and paranoia, according to the CDC. Deaths have also been linked to the drug.

“These substances are among the worst poison centers have ever seen,” said director of the Louisiana Poison Center, Mark Ryan. “The psychosis seen in some users is truly remarkable, in a very scary way. People high on these drugs have done some bizarre things to themselves and hurt others around them. It’s important that parents and young people understand just how dangerous these synthetic drugs are.”

Last fall, the Drug Enforcement Administration banned bath salts and their active ingredients, mephedrone, methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV), and methylone. “This action demonstrates our commitment to keeping our streets safe from these and other new and emerging drugs that have decimated families, ruined lives, and caused havoc in communities across the country,” said Michele M. Leonhart, DEA Administrator. “These chemicals pose a direct and significant threat, regardless of how they are marketed, and we will aggressively pursue those who attempt their manufacture and sale.”

The drugs are generally snorted, taken by mouth, or injected. One recent CDC study found that the majority of 35 patients brought to the ER for overdose had injected the drug. The same report suggested that for the one person who died from it, that MDPV was the chemical most likely linked to the death. Many of patients also had other drugs, like cocaine, benzodiazepines, opiates, marijuana, or amphetamines, in their systems at the time.

Bath salts are sold at convenience stores, “head shops,” and gas stations, or may be purchased on the Internet. They are often mislabeled to avoid detection by officials, and their labels may read “Not Intended for Human Consumption,” according to the CDC.

The government has had a hard time keeping up with synthetic drugs, as has been seen with synthetic marijuana in recent years. Calls to poison control centers for synthetic drug-related emergencies have risen drastically over the last several years, according to the American Association for Poison Control Centers (AAPCC): In 2010, there were 3,200 calls to poison control, and this number rose to over 13,000 in 2011. Perhaps incidents like recent episode in Miami will bring the drugs’ neurological effects to public consciousness, and help spur officials to crack down on bath salts at their source – the people who concoct them in underground labs. But time will tell how the issue will evolve from here.

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Throughout History People All Over the World have found Ways to Get High. Some Drugs are REALLY HARMFUL – even in Small Doses – like Tobacco – which is ADDICTIVE and Causes Cancer and Other Diseases – AND have NO BENEFICIAL EFFECT. Then there is Alcohol which is ADDICTIVE and DEADLY in Large Does but harmless to Beneficial in Small doses. Then there is Cannabis or Marijuana – Which is a VALUABLE COMMERCIAL CROP for Hemp Fiber and Seed – and when smoked is HARMLESS or Beneficial to many with health problems- so it is illegal?

stop being an endorser for the stupidest drug around. no one gets high off marijuana. they just get retarded. trust me i’ve lost my jobs so many times cause i was high and decided that computer programming was just “too hard”. well not any more i’m never gonna smoke again. and we’ll see who can force who to do shit they don’t like. if your gonna legalize something legalize cocaine

The inaccurate name actually belies the seriousness of the drug. The average person hears “bath salts” and thinks of those little bottles of colored rocks in Grandma’s bathroom. Instead of recognizing the danger of this substance, it can be written off as one of those urban legend fads (vodka-soaked tampons, snorting nutmeg, etc.) that’s the subject of bimonthly hand-wringing re: kids today and their out-of-control ways.

A toxicology report and a determination of whether Rudy Eugene had a history of mental health problems or violent behavior seem relevant before you imply that a horrific crime was caused solely by a drug.

Sensational headlines that turn out to be unfounded undermine the efforts to educate people about the risks of drugs.

like instead of tell people the name of the drug lets just call it “bath salts” cause it’s more helpful than saying which individual drug it was.

cause u know that’s what they do MDPV is illegal in florida now so it couldn’t be that it would have to be one of the others. that makes you eat people? which one is that oh yeah. we gotta blame these actions on a drug. of course.

cause when people take a drug they have no more soul. the body sorta takes over. and bodies are like evil u know